Miss Braxton: Home and Away Fanfic

Chapter 15

"How dare you keep information like this from me? I'm your mother, Darryl! I should have been the first to know!"

I winced as Cheryl Braxton's shrill voice echoed over the house, filling the place with the tense vibes that she seemed to just radiate. Hurricane Cheryl (that's how Rick referred to her) had hit just under an hour ago and ruined all the peace that I had been working on maintaining over the past week since I'd gone to the party in Mangrove River.

For the last several days, things had been great. Everyone was happy, and I had been trying incredibly hard to keep it that way. I'd been going to school every day, attending all of my lessons and been keeping on top of all my work with help from Jett. When I wasn't doing that, I was balancing time between my family and my friends. That was far easier said than done. It was difficult having to keep my friendship with the River kids secret from Brax. The more time I spent with them - with Brody - the more I found myself wanting to stay around longer.

My friends hadn't been too badly affected by the aftermath of party. A few of Brody's mates had been caught by the police, and so had Stella, who had tripped over when running away. They were questioned, but got away with a warning. None of them revealed anything and the members of the Chatworth gang who'd been hauled into the police station had remained just as tight-lipped. No one was giving the game away to the coppers.

Amy had ended up getting lost somewhere in the bush and told me that she'd not been able to get home until the sun had started rising on the following morning. She laughed and joked about it, but I couldn't help feeling that she must have been pretty frightened at the time. I wouldn't have dealt well with being all alone, lost in the woods overnight.

"Weren't you scared?" I asked her.

"Scared?" She grinned, brushing it off like it was nothing. "Lex, I was terrified. I thought the Australian Bush Monster was going to run at me any second."

Everyone in the group had some battle scars to show off. Mostly there was just bruises and scratches, but some of the boys were much worse off. Jackson looked awful. He had a black eye that he thought looked pretty cool. Another guy had actually been grazed by a pocket knife. It was pretty full on.

Amazingly enough, I hadn't seen or heard from the Chatworth gang since. The Hodges hadn't been showing up to school. Every lesson, their seats were empty. The rest of their crew were there, but they kept their distance, and we kept ours. The week break was well needed. It was nice not having to be constantly on guard.

Over the last few days, things had been quiet. I loved surfing and chilling out with Brody and the River boys and going to see Olivia whenever I could. At home, life was sweet. Well... at least it had been. Before Cheryl turned up out of the blue. I'd known that sooner or later I'd have to face the mother of my half-brothers. Our meeting was inevitable. I just hadn't been prepared for it to be today.

Mrs Braxton had been informed of my existence by her nattering neighbours in Mangrove River. The locals there had seen me hanging around the place with Brody and Amy and Matt. My name had spread like wildfire through the town. Once Cheryl had caught wind of the mention of me, she had rushed to Summer Bay and been banging on the door with a face full of fury, demanding an explanation. To say that she was unhappy with how this had all been handled was a gross understatement. Brax and Heath had decided to keep the whole thing from her. She was livid and she made sure we knew about it by screaming the place down.

My brother's had all tried to get me to leave the house when she turned up by encouraging me to go out with my mates or something, but I'd stayed hidden just behind the corner around the door, out of sight. It was wrong to eavesdrop, but I didn't think that really applied when the subject matter was me.